Mt. IRVINETHE SURFING CENTRE Mt. Irvine is best known for its Bobby Jones golf course and luxury accommodations.There are a large number villas here and in the surrounding area, including a palace belonging to Harrison Ford, the Hollywood screen actor. Here too is Le Beau Rivage, the golf course restaurant. And the Mt. Irvine Bay Hotel.
It has a number of local eating places, but notably La Tartaruga, (which is Italian for The Turtle), a restaurant run by Milanese Gabriele Gaetano , an excellent chef in his own right. And then there is Sunday School, which has nothing to do with church or religion. Sunday School is a people place. If you are a good-time-charlie, this is the place for you.. Great people watching place, I am told.
Getting back to the main road and going north towards Plymouth, on an afternoon, you can buy fish just out of the sea from vendors that line a bit of wall erected to forestall the erosion of the road. At the time of writing there was some construction going on. It turned out to be some sort of fish processing or storage facility.
At Mt Irvine Bay, yachts from many countries swing at anchor.
The beach is good for swimming, and under the coconut trees there are lounging chairs.The surf is at times quite good at this beach, and it is quite the spot for meeting people from all over the globe. And, there is quite a good beach facility here. So at holiday times, when people are off work, it can be well frequented by entire families. A little south of Mt. Irvine is Grange Bay. This is a spot where in previous times, when agriculture was the flourishing industry of Tobago, lighters would come in to take away the produce of the plantations close by.
Further on and you come to Pleasant Prospect and the Indigo Restaurant, run by an Irishman. Further on is the Grafton Bird Sanctuary, started after the hurricane of 1963 as a sanctuary for what birds were not blown away. And a little way on the same side are the super luxury The Stone Haven Villas and Le Gran Courlan Resort and Spa.
A short turn to the left takes you to Fort Bennet and the sea. Just a few relics of the fort still remains, but there is a pasable beach and a snorkelling spot close to the shore. You'll find black volcanic sand further along and Stone Haven Bay.
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Right next to the golf course, and a little before you come upon it, is a four-road junction. Taking the road to the left, that is , the one going towards the sea, you will find the village of Buccoo, which somebody has ungraciously described as "a scruffy little village". But it is here that the goat races take place - in the Easter season. Buccoo has a jetty of its own.
Next you come to the public government-owned and operated beach facility at Mt. Irvine Bay.
Grange Bay is a pretty place with a strong sea wall to prevent erosion of the road. This is a popular bathing spot, as well as a place to sit on the wall and watch the sun go down. A spot frequented by all manner of photographers, for reasons that these pictures show.
A hop, skip and jump and you are in the village of Black Rock and the Black Rock cafe. It seems that every island in the West Indies has its Black Rock community, a testimony to their volcanic origins. Close by there used to be a restaurant called 'Under the Mango Tree Restaurant and Bar'. Yes, it was situated under a mango tree! The restaurant is no longer there, but the mango tree remains.
